Work from home jobs?

BaNksY IV

BaNksY IV

BaNksY IV

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6 Nov 2011
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936
Location
Suffolk
So just wondered do any of you work from home? If so what job do you do?

I'm thinking of a career change as I currently work long shifts on call and its not working so well for me now and is starting to take its toll on me.
Working from home is a idea that appeals to me greatly but not sure what sort of jobs I should be looking at so I'm looking for inspiration.

Are there any that don't need big qualifications? I had good GCSE results back in the day and have a lvl 2 NVQ in Customer Service and a lvl 3 NVQ in management.

Evening classes to get further qualifications is a possibilty.

Thanks and fire away
 
I work in the Broadcasting sector supporting TV operators in the EMEA. When I'm not travelling, I work from home.

In my experience, the IT sector tends to be the one that works from home the most.
 
I work in IT and currently work in an office but before I had this Job, I worked from home as an IT hardware advisor freelancing. Before that i was a researcher and did several months of in labs physics research and then did several months mostly at home doing write ups and such with the odd need to travel to the lab offices.
 
Another IT person who largely works from home here, but wouldn't expect to be able to jump straight into working from home if new to industry.
 
plenty of IT roles allow for it, though often it could be the case that you have to have established yourself/worked at the company for a few years... once you've done that you can be quite flexible at some places - for instance I could turn up at 11am and work a bit later or just leave early on occasions but perhaps make up for it later in the week... and of course work from home on occasions - but if a new joiner were to randomly turn up at 11am in his first year it might not go down so well, you need to prove yourself and establish some trust first - if they know you're competent, will get the work done, meet deadlines etc.. then how and when you work are less important

working from home full time though, in my old place, was less common - some people did do so but it was more for geographical reasons, they had a house in Scotland or Cornwall say... office is in London - these people tended to be highly skilled and quite valuable to the company, you're not going to fit that category unfortunately. There were a few others who initially worked in the office then moved to working from home - wife getting a new job in another city would be a valid reason. However if you did live near the office then working from home full time wasn't really the done thing - you still needed to show your face and attend meetings.
 
I work in a batch automation team (IT) and can work from home when ever I like. I rarely do thugh as I just don't get as much done
 
you need to look at why you want to work from home. From your OP you seem to establish that you want to do it but don't know what exactly you want to do, which imo is the more important matter.

If you look for a job with the idea of working from for solely convenience reasons, you will get lazy and it wont work out for you. Much of IT is work from home because on many occasions working in an office offers no benefit over working from home.

If you are established in any industry, look to set up a freelance consultancy firm and try that out from home. A lot more work to start off but it can pay off big time and it is something which doesn't require too much investment and commitment in case things go wrong.
 
I was thinking of changing to a IT support type career, is it generally speaking a well paid job?
In a way my problem is I have a well paid job at present but its caused me to fall into depression and no money from a job is worth your health so this is why I'm looking to change but as I don't currently have good specific qualifications I'm worried I'll struggle to get close to my wage if I left.
Are there any qualifications in particular I should be looking at as a standard for a career in IT?

P.s thanks for the replies so far =)
 
I was offered a job that was about £2k more than I'm on, focussing on exactly the aspects of my current job that I love most and find challenging (theres a lot of other crap with my current job that i despise).

But I turned it down because I don't trust myself to be productive enough, in addition to the feeling of isolation that would inevitably depress me.

It was also a kind of IT job. Engineering/IT.
 
BaNksY IV said:
I was thinking of changing to a IT support type career, is it generally speaking a well paid job?
In a way my problem is I have a well paid job at present but its caused me to fall into depression and no money from a job is worth your health so this is why I'm looking to change but as I don't currently have good specific qualifications I'm worried I'll struggle to get close to my wage if I left.
Are there any qualifications in particular I should be looking at as a standard for a career in IT?

P.s thanks for the replies so far =)
Click to expand...

IT support in london is generally £15k to £100k depending on your experience and the industry you work in. It really can vary a lot. Most people earn at the lower end of the scale though and it is no longer a valued job to a company. As a new person expect £15k to £25k as a starter. But you would need to be in the office. Once established there are opportunities to work from home depending on the company. But that would be occasional days rather than full time.
 
I have the option to but I don't and work in a near by office even though I don't have any of my team there. I think I would just be sick of being at home most of the work if I were to and it helps promotes work/home separation.
 
neil3k said:
No

Expect to start ~£15k
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This 100%

Currently in my first position and started as a junior dropping to 15k. 1.5 years on and at 20k not a junior (albeit still feel like one) and feel like im managing the site myself. So don't be deterred by the starting cap.
 
neil3k said:
No

Expect to start ~£15k
Click to expand...

for the OP perhaps, but it isn't always the case, with a good degree you could join some company on a grad scheme and get 30-35k+... learn their application(s) well and go onto contracting... which can pay even more... thus you'll find some people doing first line support in banks etc.. for six figure sums

not that their application support role would have much in common with the more generic '1st line' printer monkey type roles people may earn 15k for
 
dowie said:
for the OP perhaps, but it isn't always the case, with a good degree you could join some company on a grad scheme and get 30-35k+... learn their application(s) well and go onto contracting... which can pay even more... thus you'll find some people doing first line support in banks etc.. for six figure sums

not that their application support role would have much in common with the more generic '1st line' printer monkey type roles people may earn 15k for
Click to expand...

Well yes as that's who we're talking about, no point in telling him about the jobs he's not going to be able to get due to lack of experience/qualifications.
 
BaNksY IV said:
I was thinking of changing to a IT support type career, is it generally speaking a well paid job?
In a way my problem is I have a well paid job at present but its caused me to fall into depression and no money from a job is worth your health so this is why I'm looking to change but as I don't currently have good specific qualifications I'm worried I'll struggle to get close to my wage if I left.
Are there any qualifications in particular I should be looking at as a standard for a career in IT?

P.s thanks for the replies so far =)
Click to expand...

Wage is relative, if you are on minimum wage then IT support will be much better paid. If you are earning 50k as a project manager, then IT support will pay bady
 
tom_e said:
Well yes as that's who we're talking about, no point in telling him about the jobs he's not going to be able to get due to lack of experience/qualifications.
Click to expand...

he asked if it was generally speaking a well paid area, answer is it can be - tis just general info... he could potentially move into one of those roles at a vendor after getting some general technical experience elsewhere
 
I do when I need to, when there's a deadline or lots of work. I'm a programmer - company provided VoIP phone & screens etc (another reason why if you're new, they might not want you at home... they need to invest a little money in you to keep in contact and allow you to work at home if you need anything in particular).

As above, I wouldn't expect to just work from home in a new role, you need to earn their trust really as you can basically do what you want at home so they need to know you're getting the work done.

Really depends on the company. For example if everything is deadline based, as long as you meet those deadlines then some companies might let you work from home.

And no, IT support is terribly paid, especially if you're just starting out. It can improve if you improve and move to server stuff or something more specialised. Also, I doubt many IT support jobs would allow you to work at home unless you get yourself into some sort of call-out job.
 
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